Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-10-13
THE KITCHEN FLOOR.
How to Keep 1t In a Nice, Clean and Invi
ing Condition.

Inc care OF the KlGcnen 1OOr IS
something in which all good house
| wifes are interested, for kitchen is
never attractive where this has been
| neglected. No matter how neat and
orderly the rest of the room may be, if
the floor is not clean the room never
looks tidy. 1t is said that a nicely
| polished stove and clean kitchen
floor are the badges of good house,
wifes, and. however true this may be,
certain 1t is that the care of these ar
ticles goes good way toward giving
to the room a tidy appearance.
Many women, in washing a white.
unstained soft-wood floor, use the hot
suds from the boiler that is left after
getting through the family washing.
which is very poor plan, indeed, for
the tendency of suds is to darken the
| floor if the boards are not thoroughly
| rinsed with clear water afterward. As
these women seldom think of rinsing
the boards, the floors of their kitchen
always have a dark, uncared-for APP
pearance.
To keep a floor nice and clean is not
such very hard work if one goes about
it properly. Be sure and have clean
flannel cloth to begin with, for there
is nothing like flannel for this pur-
pose; and old flannel underwear is just
the thing. Hot water has long been
the standing rule for washing floors.
and with plenty of soap and energetic
use of the scrubbing brush has often
succeeded in whitening the floors, but
the best authorities now say cold wa
ter is best. Into pail of clean. cold
water put two tablespoonfuls of am
monia. Sweep thoroughly before COM
mencing to wash the floor. If the floor
is very dirty some good soap can be
used; but usually the ammonia is suffi-
cient. No scrubbing brush is needed,
for the ammonia more than takes its
place; and really, if this liquid never
did any thing but Danish the scrubbing
brush, it has accomplished something
for which all womankind should be
grateful; for of all the articles in the
household for wasting strength. the
scrubbing brush stands at the head.
The zinc under the stove should be
IuoAOuSuly ClCdhoo OCAoio oAc iOoo ia
the floor is touched. Begin the floor
at one corner of the room, and, ii
convenient, work toward the door.
Use plenty of water, and only wash
as small piece of the floor at
time as you can conveniently without
doing much reaching. Have dry,
clean cloth especially for wiping. and
always wipe down the length and
with the grain of the boards. II
wiped across the boards the floor is
apt to be streaky. In washing each
piece wash beyond the joining line,
so that when done there will not be
dark mark between them, which
there surely will be if this is not done
carefully.
Some women prefer using mop
for this work, while others declare
they can not use one, and would
much rather go down on their knees
to do it. For a woman who uses it
properly, a mop is the best thing for
washing the kitchen floor, or, in fact
any floor. Any woman who uses
clean, soft cloths and plenty of am
monia water, and good soap if de-
sired, in hopping the floor, will have
just as nice, clean floor as her next
door neighbor. who does it in the old
way, besides saving a great deal of
strength and time. Boston BUDGET.